John f



J. F. O'CONNOR.

MEANS FOR AUTO MA HCALLY MINING CAR TRUCKS.

APPLICATION men AUG-20.4 1911.

1,304,085- Patented May 20, 1919.

WITNESSES.- $2 2221 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN IE. o'oomvon, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB. ro WILLIAM H. MINER, oroHAzY,

NEW YORK.

MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY ALIN-ING CAR-TRUCKS.

Specificationot Letters Patent.

Patented May 20, 1919.

Application filed August 20, 1917. Seria11vo.'187,289.

a citizen of the United States, residingat Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Means for Automatically Alining Car-Trucks, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accom panying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in means for automatically alining car trucks.

As is well known, in the operation of railway cars, the flanges of the Wheels wear very rapidly which is due to the fact that,' when the cars leave a curved section of track and enter the tangent or straight portion, the trucks having been prevlou'sly turned or twisted with respect to the car body, tend to remain in such twisted or turned position. The result is that the wheels remaining constantly at an angle to the tracks, the flanges of the wheels are constantly bearing against the rails at an angle with consequent rapid wear. Due to the comparatively great friction between the trucks and the car body, there is nothing to compel the return of the trucks to proper position,'that is, in alinement with the car bodies, in present day con struction.- To overcome this difiiculty, elaborate attemptshave been made to minimize the friction between the center bearing plates which are interposed between the body and truck bolsters of the car, but this has not eliminated the excessive wear of the Wheel flanges. 4

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and efficient arrangement for auto matically and positively alining "the car trucks with the car bodyafter the car leaves a curved portion of track and enters the tangent or straight-away portion and to automatically inaintain'the truck in this position while at the same time permitting the necessary free movements of the trucks with respect to the cars when the cars enter a curved section of track.

More specifically stated, the object of the present invention is to provide truck alining means which operate by the application of the pulling force from the car body to the car trucks at points in advance of the center or king-pins so that the trucks will follow or .trail with respect to the points of application of'the pulling forces and thus automatically remain in proper Position with respect to the car body. 7

In the drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is an elevational view showing portions of the car body and truck bolsters with my improvements interposed therebetween.. Fig. 2 is a horizontal, sectional view, taken through the center plate construction and substantially on the line 22 of Fig. 1. In Fig. 2 the full lines indicate the relative position of the parts when the truck is properly alined and the dotted lines indicate the position assumed by the parts when the car is passing over a curved section of track. Fig. 3 is a vertical, sectional view through the king-pin of another construction embodying my invention. And Fig. 4. is a horizontal, sectional view, gaken substantially on the line ll of Referring first tothe construction illustrated in Figs. 1; and 2, l0 denotes the lower portion of a body bolster and 11 the upper portion of a truck bolster which may be of any suitable or usual construction. My improvements, as shown, comprise two center plate members A and B, the former being secured to the body bolster as by rivets 1212 and the latter to the truck bolster as by rivets 1313.

The center plate member A, as shown, comprises a'depending portion 1 1 of general ellipse formation but having at both ends a semi-circular section 1515, it being understood that the major axis ofthe elliptic formation is arranged parallel to the center line of the car body. The'depending section 1 1 is provided with acentral enlarged recess 16 to accommodate the center or king-pin 17 and permit relative movement therebetween.

The center plate member B is provided with an upstanding continuous flange 18, also of general elliptic form and with its major axis at right angles to the truck bolster, that is, with the major axis parallel to the axis of the car body when the truck and body bolsters are in parallel position. Said flange 18 is also provided at its front and rear ends with semi-circular portions 19-19 which are adapted to fit the larger portion of the semi-circular sections 15 of the body bolster center plate member. Intermediate the flange portions 1919, the flange 18 is widened, as indicated at 2020, it being obvious from an inspection of Fig. 2, that the spacing within the flange 18 is large enough to permit a comparatively wide range of movement between the center plate members A and B, bot-h angularly and in directions lengthwise of the car.

The full lines in Fig. 2, as hereinbefore described, indicate the relative positions of the parts when the truck is in proper position and also with the car going in a direction indicated by the arrow IVith the car going in the direction indicated by said arrow (:0), it is obvious that the pulling forces which are transmitted from the car body to the car truck are applied through the depending section 1-1 of the member A to the flange 18 of the truck bolster member B at points well in advance of the center pin 17 hen the car truck is swiveled or turned with respect to the bar body, as indicated, for instance, by the dotted lines in Fig. :2, there is a slight tendency for the semi-circular portion 19 of the member B to squeeze out or push back the semi-circular section 15 of the member A, although freedom of angular movement is permitted. Hence, when the car enters the tangent or straight portion of the track, the pulling forces transmitted from the section 14 to the member B will automatically tend to force the truck bolster back to parallel position with respect to the body bolster. hen the truck bolster has been forced back to its normal position as above described, it is of course obvious that the continued transference of the pressure from the member A to the member B will automatically maintain the truck in said position so long as the car remains on the tangent or straight portion of the track.

hen the car is operated in the reverse direction, that is, with the car body pulling in the direction of the arrow (y), the member A will shift with respect to the member B and the lower semi-circular section 15 will engage with the lower semi-circular flange 19 and the same action will take place. It

will be evident that my center plate construction while embodying the necessary means for alining the car truck, does not mitigate in any way against the proper swiveling of the truck and the arrangement is such that it can be manufactured at comparatively small expense and applied to present constructions of cars and trucks.

Referring to the arrangement shown in Figs. 3 and at, the upper center plate member A is provided with a depending square section 114: which is telescoped within an upstanding flange 118 formed integrally with the lower or truck bolster center plate member 13. The flange 118 is also arranged in the form of a square but of suflicient size to permit free movement of the square section 118 therewithin. The center bearing plate B is also preferably provided with an upstanding circular boss 40 which enters an elongated recess 411 in the lower face of the section 114. The center pin 117 extends through said boss 40 and also up through the section llt of the member A. In Fig. 4, the position represents that which is assumed when there is no pulling force being exerted from the car to the truck, but it is obvious that when the car starts in motion or while it is running, as for instance, in the direction indicated by the arrow (2), the pulling force from the car will be exerted through the apex 12 to the angle 43 of the flange 118-, and when the truck swivels with respect to the car body, the square section 114; will be squeezed or forced rearwardly relatively to the flange 118 until the car leaves the curved section of track and enters the tangent. \Vhen the latter event occurs, the square section 114 will gradually be pulled back into full engagement with the flange 118 and thus return the bolster to its normal position.

In carrying out my invention, oiled waste or packing, indicated at 44 in Fig. 3, will be placed in the spaces between the two center plate members in both of the constructions represented in the drawing for the purpose of reducing friction and minimizing wear.

Although I have herein shown and de scribed in detail the preferred manner of carrying out my invention, the same is merely illustrative, and I contemplate all changes and modifications that come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In car construction, the combination with body and truck bolsters; of means, interposed between said bolsters, for automatically, alining the car truck with the car body when the car is on a straight section of track, said means including movably engaging members on said bolsters, the point of eifec- I tive pulling engagement therebetween being in advance of the center pin connection between the bolsters.

2. In car construction, the combination with body and truck bolsters; of center plate members secured to said bolsters, the center plate member attached to the body bolster exerting its pulling pressure against the truck bolster member ahead of the center pin the car body through the body bolster to the truck bolster.

5. As an article of manufacture, a center plate for cars, said center plate including members adapted to be secured to the body and truck bolsters of a car, said members being telescoped and free to move angularly and in a direction longitudinally of the car when in position, with respect to each other.

6. In car construction, the combination with body and truck bolsters; of center plates interposed between said bolsters, said center plates including telescoped portions adapted for free angular movement therebetween and limited longitudinal movement therebetween.

7. In car construction, the combination with the body and truck bolsters; of a center plate member secured to one of said bolsters of non-circular section; of a second center plate member secured to the other bolster and having a flange of larger area than said section of the other center plate member, said center plate members being relatively movable lengthwise of the car and adapted to have bearing engagement at points on either side of the center pin in the center line of the car.

8. In car construction, the combination with the body and truck bolsters; of a center plate member secured to the body bolster and having a depending section with narrowed front and rear edges; of a center plate member secured to the truck bolster and having an upstanding flange of larger area than the depending section of the first named center plate member, said flange also having narrowed portions at the front and back ends thereof.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 4 day of Aug. 1917.

JOHN F. OCONNOR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of. Patent! Washington, 1L0." 

